


Chloe and the Badman

by Valifecent



Series: Badman [1]
Category: Lucifer (TV), Preacher (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Deckerstar - Freeform, F/M, God eats Pork, God is a cowboy, God knows your heart, God loves Shakespear, Inspired by Joshua Johnson, She Needs someone to hold her when she cries
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-03-30
Updated: 2017-03-30
Packaged: 2018-10-12 19:05:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10497576
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Valifecent/pseuds/Valifecent
Summary: Chloe goes on a date with a mysterious man. Prequel to Angels and the Badman. Deckerstar Feels





	

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Where the Winged Ones Are](https://archiveofourown.org/works/8451049) by [Arken_Stone1](https://archiveofourown.org/users/Arken_Stone1/pseuds/Arken_Stone1). 



> Thanks to my Beta TheWhiteWolf2486

The Miracle and the Badman  
Summary: Chloe goes on a date with a mysterious man. Prequel to Angels and the Badman. 

He watched her as she moved through the produce aisle. Her hair a golden mane falling across her shoulders. She is beautiful, he thought to himself. He had made up his mind to not interfere in her upbringing after her creation, it did not feel right to meddle in her life as he had done with some of his other creations. He never spoke to her in her dreams and she never heard his voice in her ears. He left her to the love and guidance of her parents, left her to her own free will. His only interference had been on the day of her only child’s birth. Both mother and child would have perished, so he gave her some of his grace and she was able to fight the pull of death. It left her unable to bear anymore children, but he dared not correct that. Azrael was already angry with his interference in her duties. He wondered if his daughter held resentment toward his human, it would explain some of her brushes with death. 

God took a breath and stepped forward to pick up the apple that Chloe had dropped.

***

What was she getting herself into driving to the Hollywood Sunset Ranch for horseback riding? Marion Morrison was old enough to be her father, for God’s sake, but he was ruggedly handsome. One of the first things she had noticed about him was that his eyes were bluer than robins’ eggs. He asked her out on a date after chatting in the grocery store for all of three minutes. He had called her ma’am and stated that he was in LA on vacation and would be, ‘very much honored to spend the day with a beautiful woman’. Lucifer had been the last person to call her that, she recalled sadly.

She had refused at first, she never was one to fall for a pick up line from a complete stranger; but when she told Maze about the meeting, the look on her roommate's face had been so hopeful that she found herself calling him back and agreeing to the date. Maze and her had grown closer this past year and she had been there for her in ways that Chloe had never expected. Spending most weekends with her, going with her to karaoke nights with the rest of the tribe. She even picked up Trixie from school sometimes without even being asked.

She didn’t want her roommate to be disappointed in her again, for she was always telling her she needed to get laid. Why sex was so important to her she would never know, but she was tired of being referred to as “granny panties”, “vanilla”, and “stick in the mud”; although she knew that she was all those things. And she really did need to get laid. The only man since Dan has been a one night stand. She cringed at the memory.

Decker! Where the hell are you!

Chloe which room are you in? 

Dammit Chloe, answer us!

Huh, she opened her eyes to see an unfamiliar room, and a man’s arm across her belly. Her head was splitting, the light hurt her eyes, aaanndd she was naked, great!

“Who the?” Chloe turned to see a man with dark short hair and dark eyes.

“Oh, hello. Are you the Chloe they’re looking for? I would answer them before they wake the whole motel. My names Jesse Custer.” He held out his hand and Chloe shook it.

“Um…Chloe Decker.” She said stupidly as she could feel her face turn red. 

“I hope I showed you a good time last night.” He said with a slight blush as he lit a cigarette. “I’m going to get dressed and I’ll give you your privacy.”. He grabbed black slacks, black cowboy boots and a black shirt and heading to the bathroom.

Chloe waited for him to close the door before she bolted out of bed and went around the room looking for her clothes. What the hell have I done now? She thought to herself bitterly. She hardly remembered anything after Lucifer had come to the station to introduce everyone to his wife! His wife…after he had disappeared without a word. He even had the balls to ask her why she hadn’t congratulated him on his marriage. That jerk. She could feel the burning behind her eyes but she kept it a bay, she would not cry in front of a stranger. 

Bang! Bang! “Decker!” Chloe jumped at the sound of an angry Maze. Chloe opened the door to find Linda as well. Linda immediately rushed to hug her. “Oh, Chloe, we were all so worried when no one could find you. We had Ella trace your phone,” Linda said just as the man she just had biblical relations with came out of the bathroom. All three women noticed his reverend’s collar. 

“Nice job Decker.” Maze smirked. “I think I’m rubbing off on you.”.

The sound of people and children took herself out of her reverie. She pulled her car into a parking space and headed to what looked like the main barn.

Marion was waiting for her when she walked up the path looking like the Marlboro Man complete with boots and stetson hat. 

“Hi there. Glad you could make it,” He said smiling at her. “They do a one hour guided tour, but I suggest a two hour one because we will be able to catch some of the sunset.”

“Ok.” Chloe nodded nervously.

Marion paid the clerk for the two hour tour, who told them to follow the guild into the stables to pick out their horses. Marion helped her pick one out, a beautiful mare named Noel. Marion chose a black stallion named Spirit. He seemed to have a way with horses as she saw him rub the animal’s head and gently speak to it in soft tones. He even helped her mount hers by helping her put her foot in the stirrup and climb onto the saddle. 

“Do you ride often?” Chloe asked after she had acclimated herself.

“Every chance I get.” He said. “What about you?”

“I haven’t rode a horse in a long time but I remember enjoying it. My mother paid for me to take lessons when I was younger. I’m a little nervous to be riding again.” And to be on a date, but she had to get back in the saddle. She laughed inwardly at her own pun. 

“It should come back to you after a while,” Marion told her encouragingly. “Let us keep to the back of the tour group, so that we can talk,” He suggested. 

They rode side by side for a while in the warm sun just enjoying the scenery. The other tour members were far enough away so that Chloe could not hear them.

Marion cleared his throat. “I have to admit to you Chloe, that it has been a while since I’ve had the pleasure of a woman’s company. I wasn’t sure if I had scared you off being too forward. I only have a few days left of my vacation and I wanted to make the most of it.” 

“Well it was my roommate who encouraged me to change my mind. I have been trying to be a little bit more spontaneous. She says I have to ‘have a little more fun’.” 

“And how it that going for you?” He smiled at her, eyes sparkling.

“You can ask me after the date. But, when I try I seem to skip spontaneous and head right to reckless.” Wait, why did she just say that? 

“It can be a hard thing, knowing when to change course or when you have gone too far.” He nodded his head grimly. “Doesn’t mean you should not take advantage of good opportunities.” 

“Ok, tell me about yourself.” Chloe said hoping he wouldn’t notice her change of subject. Be cool Decker. 

Marion told her that he had been divorced from his wife for a long time but had never remarried. He had many grown children with his ex-wife and one son, his youngest, with another woman. He had no grandchildren. He ran a technology company called Duke’s Technologies based out of Texas and had been on an extended vacation touring the United States. Chloe found that he was a born storyteller, he had her laughing as he told her stories about his children (wow, he had his hands full) and stories about the history of LA, history being a passion of his he said. 

Chloe reciprocated in kind with stories about her job, her family, and even Hot Tub High School. Which he had thankfully never seen, but teased her about her wild youth nonetheless. There was something about this man, she thought. It felt as if he was a lifelong friend. She couldn’t remember the last time she was able open up to someone so easily, not even Lucifer. Nope, stop right there Decker! You will not think of him now, not today. She told herself sternly. 

The rest of the tour passed pleasantly enough, with them talking about everything and nothing at all. She even took a few pictures of them and the landscape to show Trix. She hoped her daughter would be excited that she had gone on a date. 

“Are you hungry?” Marion asked her as he helped her down from her Mare. Oh boy, she was going to feel her legs tomorrow. 

”They have excellent pork and beans,” He said with a chuckle. “I used to forbid pork but I no longer feel the need to be so strict about diet.”

Chloe nodded in agreement and followed the cowboy to the picnic area complete with wooden booths, and a large kettle cooked over an open flame.

“Wow, really rustic huh?”

“Sometimes it’s the simple things in life that bring the most joy.” He took her hand for a moment as they stood inline to get their food. When they had made their plates and were seated in a booth, Marion asked her an unexpected question. 

“Is there anything you regret, Chloe?”

Was that a first date question? Chloe looked into his bottomless blues deciding whether to go with the truth or make something up. At last she decided to go with truth. “There is something that I wish I had done differently. My father was murdered 17 years ago and I had found out that they were going to let the man that killed him get a day out of jail to see his family. I had let my emotions get the best of me and I followed the man after he was released.” She took a deep breath. “When I had found him he had been murdered and I was the first one on the scene.”

“Well isn’t that a good thing?” Marion asked her. 

She shook her head. “Well no, my unit had found out that this man was innocent of my father’s murder. We found who did it and prosecuted him. But we weren’t able to get him convicted because the defense found out that I was the first one on the scene, when I had no business being there. The jury had enough reasonable doubt to let the man walk free.”.

“What about retrying him?”

“We can’t now. He was murdered by the Mob and now I will never prove that he killed my father, I will never get justice for him.”. 

“I am sorry, but God knows what the man did to your father. He did not get earthly justice but a higher one,” He said grabbing her hand and giving it a squeeze. Chloe squeezed back and gave him a smile that didn’t reach her eyes.

“I know those words are meant to give me comfort but they don’t.”.

Marion smiled at her and said, “There are more things in heaven and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.”

“Wait, did the cowboy just Shakespeare me?” Chloe teased, grateful for the joke to break the tension. 

“Indeed.” Marion smiled. Chloe finished the last of her cornbread and coffee thinking about what to say since the date was going so well. After a pause she asked him the same question.asked her. Turnabout’s fair game after all. Marion looked puzzled as if he had never thought about regrets before. He was silent so long Chloe wasn’t sure he was going to answer

Finally he said, “In the beginning, I was raw power. I was a new father and expected obedience from my children. I am slow to anger, but wrathful when provoked.”. He paused as if looking for the right words. “One of my children, Sam, was the most willful of my children and one day he disobeyed a direct order from me. The rest of my children saw the consequences of his actions and some of the older ones agreed with him and turned against me. It caused a rift in the family. I had listened to my ex-wife and banished Sam and some of his other siblings from my home to make an example of them.”.

“What did he actually do?” Chloe asked expecting the worst wondering what Trixie could ever do to cause her to kick her out.

“He divulged secrets to those under my protection. Knowledge that was not ready to get out. He demanded something that wasn’t his to take or give.”. Chloe could hear the hint of anger in his voice, his son must have harmed someone close to him, either directly or indirectly. She wasn’t sure if she could ever do that to her daughter.

“Do you regret kicking him out?” She gave her best blank cop face hoping he wouldn’t see anything in her face. 

“I don’t regret punishing him for he needed punishing, but I never expected him to stay away for so long. I foolishly expected him to apologize first and ask for my forgiveness. Now I fear that with his time away and his resentment toward all I stand for, that he is lost to me.” For a moment, Marion Morrison’s expression looked far away but once he met Chloe eyes the look was gone and replaced by sadness. 

Now it was her turn to take his hand in hers trying to understand his motivation. She knew from her experience with interrogating suspects that this was a very sore subject for the man so chose her next question carefully, not wanting to ruin this evening since she was enjoying herself. “Is this why you came to LA, to visit him?” 

“I would be lying if I said I am not curious to see him.” He said quietly looking at his hands.

Chloe smiled and decided to lighten the mood saying, “Doesn’t mean you shouldn’t take advantage of good opportunities.”. Hitting him slightly on the arm. 

He looked up at her, blinking. “I hate it when my own words are used against me,” He said laughing. He asked if she was finished and took their plates to the trash. Wordlessly he took her hand in his and led her outside. She followed behind him as they walked over to a nearby tree in full view of the setting sun. 

They stood there for a time watching the reds, oranges, and pinks blend together. Chloe was thinking how nice the day had turned out. She was wondering if she should text Maze asking her to watch Trixie a little longer if offered the chance. Was it worth taking another risk? Chloe was so absorbed in her inner thoughts she almost didn’t hear Marion speaking.

“No matter how often I see the sun rise or set, I never get tired of it. There's something that speaks to the eternity in the certainty of it.” Chloe caught him looking at her out of the corner of her eye. 

“Darlin’,” He turned to face her taking off his hat. “Would it be alright if I kissed you?” She nodded as a small smile crossed her lips. She had never been asked her permission before, not even in high school. He pulled her close and pressed his lips to hers. He was hesitant at first but then he deepened the kiss, placing a hand on the side of her face and the other one in in her hair. Chloe felt the skin on her arms prickle, as if some invisible power flowed over her skin and seeped inside her. The power filled her up and she felt separate, but part of everything around her. She wanted to lose herself in the feeling, roll around in its warmth, so she could forget another set of lips on a beach from a day long ago. 

He pulled back from the kiss still with his hands on her face. “You're still in love with him aren’t you? The man that broke your heart and your trust?”

She pulled away as if she had been burned. “What? How did you?” Chloe stared on him her mind whirling. 

“It’s all in your kiss,” He said looking at her with sad fathomless eyes. And that was all it took for her carefully rebuilt walls to collapse and the tears to come unwanted and unbridled down her face. 

He bid her to sit on the grass. He held her and stroked her hair as she told him everything. Their first meeting. How her feelings for him had changed after he had proven to her that he respected her and had her back. He was infuriating, vain, and narcissistic; but he broke down her walls and made her feel special. She told him about how he done the impossible to save her life, and how he had saved her daughter. She had been so hopeful, but he had run away from her, and from what they could have been. She hadn’t been enough for him, she told Marion, and now he had chosen someone else. Worst of all, she had been afraid to ask him why, so she acted like he had not hurt her and worked even harder at distancing herself from her feelings.

“I both want to forget him and don’t want to,” She told him in a whisper so low she could barely hear it. 

God had said nothing and just listened to her get it all out. He watched as the sun slowly finished setting and the stars came out. When she had finished he told her. 

“With this life and all its agonies, it’s still yours. Yours to do with as you see fit, yours to try and change, or yours to do nothing. If he is still this important to you, he just might be worthy of redemption. Swallow your pride and offer to make him part of your life again at whatever capacity you're able to handle. If he still doesn’t want you or runs away from his feelings then he is a fool. You Darlin’ could bring out the best in the devil himself.” And with that he kissed her again. A slow, languid, unhurried kiss.

She felt none of the power she had in the first kiss. She felt lighter somehow, as if her worries and fears were suddenly somehow less. 

He stood up and held out his hand to her to help her stand up. He gave her his handkerchief for her tears and walked her to her car. 

“Goodbye, Chloe Jane Decker. We will meet again,” God told her.

She had no words left but hugged him goodbye and got in her car. After a beat she remembered something. 

“You forgot your handkerchief,” She said as she opened her door again. But Marion Morrison was nowhere to be found.


End file.
